President Donald Trump signed a major Dodd-Frank rollback into law Thursday, hoping to bring regulatory relief to community banks across the U.S. The president explained Dodd-Frank’s costly regulations gave large banks a negative advantage at the cost of small banks throughout the country. Click the headline to read more.

Investments

The government’s five-year push to see former Jefferies managing director and mortgage-backed securities trader Jesse Litvak jailed for mortgage bond fraud is about to fail again, as the Court of Appeals has again sided with Litvak, overturning a lower court’s conviction and ordering Litvak released from jail.

The data on Q1 2018 keeps rolling in, and it can be a little overwhelming. Here is a round up of three top 10 lists that sum up what you need to know about the state of the national multifamily market by the numbers.

Fannie Mae reported an increase in its net income in the first quarter of 2018, rising from the loss last quarter that was driven by a remeasurement in the company's deferred tax assets from the recently passed tax reform legislation. Now, it is preparing to pay out $938 million to the Treasury.

Back in September, during a Politico Policy Summit in Washington, U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said GSE reform would be addressed in 2018. For all of you nay-sayers who said it wouldn’t happen – a new interview with the secretary shows you were probably right.

While tax reform may have forced the GSE to make a draw from the Treasury during the fourth quarter, this quarter, the tables have changed. Freddie Mac announced the changes to the tax law helped drive its first-quarter growth. But it’s still not making a payment to the Treasury. Here’s why.

One of the things that has bedeviled mortgage financing post-crisis has been the absence of the private label mortgage backed securities market. During the peak years, private label MBS issuance topped $1 trillion. In 2017, only $70 billion of private label RMBS were issued, although that is a big increase from 2016.

Nearly two years ago, Two Harbors Investment Corp., a mortgage REIT, shuttered its mortgage securitization business, wherein the company bought jumbo mortgages and securitized them. And now, the company is preparing to expand its agency RMBS business by acquiring CYS Investments, a fellow mortgage REIT that specializes in investing in agency RMBS backed by fixed-rate single-family residential mortgage loans, adjustable-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs.

Waterton, a national real estate investor and operator, is planning to invest more than $2.5 billion in multifamily housing over the next two years after closing its largest-ever investment fund. According to David Schwartz, Waterton’s chief executive officer, chairman, and co-founder, the firm has big plans for Venture XIII, which is the firm’s largest fund ever.

Fox network personality Sean Hannity may yet prove to be one of the most savvy real estate developers since the crisis, according to this Guardian article. His haul is exceedingly impressive for a part-time gig. Plus, are you ready for an economics history lesson?

Point, a financial technology platform that offers homeowners the opportunity take equity out of their home without taking on new debt, is set to grow thanks to a $150 million commitment from Atalaya Capital Management, a private investment firm. Under the agreement, Atalaya and Point entered into a forward flow purchase program wherein the investment firm is committing to buy as much as $150 million of Point’s shared equity instruments.

This month inHousingWire magazine

He wears t-shirts to his televised interviews; not very CEO. He played sports at a high level, but rarely brings it up and when he does he talks about it as a mere chapter in his life. Honestly, who plays a Super Bowl and doesn’t describe it as the defining moment in their personal journey? Casey Crawford, that’s who. His family is a big part of his life of course, but he talks about his even larger family — his coworkers — in terms that are just as glowing.

Feature

One of the things that has bedeviled mortgage financing post-crisis has been the absence of the private label mortgage backed securities market. During the peak years, private label MBS issuance topped $1 trillion. In 2017, only $70 billion of private label RMBS were issued, although that is a big increase from 2016.

Commentary

Digital technology has disrupted businesses and industries from publishing to public transportation, so can the mortgage industry be far behind? Actually, anyone who’s applied for a mortgage recently will have recognized that things are already changing fast.